October 30, 2006

Suozzi Announces “Operation Safe Sweets”

     Probation Officers to Monitor Sex Offenders to Protect Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween

Mineola, N.Y.-Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi announced today that for the third year in a row, the Nassau County Probation Department will be monitoring and randomly checking on convicted sex offenders during Halloween to ensure the safety of children trick-or-treating throughout the County. 

“We will not allow convicted sex offenders to jeopardize the children of Nassau County at Halloween or any other time,” Suozzi said. “By ensuring that these offenders comply with their probation conditions on Halloween and not have unsupervised contact with children, we will ensure that children throughout the County will enjoy a safe and happy Halloween.”

The County Executive noted that Halloween presents a unique set of risks for the effective containment of sex offenders in the community. There are currently 307 registered sex offenders currently on probation in Nassau County. The risk they present is exacerbated on Halloween, when children may unknowingly come into contact with these offenders.

To ensure the safety of children on Halloween, the Nassau County Probation Department Sex Offense Unit initiated “Operation Safe Sweets” in 2004. As part of the program, the Probation Department sent a written notice to all 307 convicted sex offenders reiterating the court-mandated limitations on these offenders’ contact with children. Second, teams of probation officers will be deployed throughout the County on Halloween and will make random unannounced visits to offenders’ homes to verify compliance. Probationers who violate the court-ordered conditions are subject to substantial terms of imprisonment.